For patterning purposes, it is desirable to provide a needle selection device for a circular knitting machine which is capable of selecting needles to knit, tuck or welt and various types of selection devices are known for this general purpose; for example, this type of selection device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,863. In accordance with this patent, a pair of needle selection units is positioned in side-by-side relationship and in advance of each yarn feeding and knitting station around the entire periphery of a circular knitting machine. One of the needle selection units positioned in advance of each knitting station is operable to select needles to knit or welt positions while the other selection device positioned in advance of each knitting station is operable to select needles to tuck or welt positions. In order to be able to selectively knit, tuck or welt at a given yarn knitting station, it is thus necessary to arrange two needle selection units in successive side-by-side position in advance of each of the knitting stations so that the knitting stations must be spaced apart around the circumference of the needle cylinder a sufficient distance to accommodate the two needle selection units, thereby reducing the total number of knitting stations which can be positioned around the needle cylinder of a given diameter. In order to achieve a higher production rate, it is desirable that the number of knitting stations be increased to the maximum and this requires the distance between the individual yarn knitting stations to be reduced, which is not possible when two needle selection units must be sequentially arranged in side-by-side relationship between each of the yarn knitting stations.